The family of Austin Tice, a journalist believed to be captured in Syria, has made an emotional plea for his release.

Tice, a freelance journalist for The Washington Post and McClatchy newspapers and a Georgetown law student, went missing in Syria in August. He appeared in footage that recently emerged, which showed him blindfolded by his captors.

His family reacted in a statement to Russia Today's Arabic service, saying, “Knowing Austin is alive is comforting to our family, although it is difficult to see him in the circumstances recently depicted."

The New York Daily News reported that the news channel is funded by the Russian government, which has sided with Syrian president Bashir al-Assad.

Tice's family offered a "prayer" to the people of Syria, and asked that the Syrian government aid his safe return. “Understanding the many current demands on its resources, we nonetheless ask the Syrian government to determine Austin’s whereabouts, establish that he is well, and do all in its power to expedite his return to us,” his family said.

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July 18, 2012, Damascus: A blast at the National Security building during a meeting of Cabinet ministers kills the defense minister and his deputy, who is also Assad's brother-in-law, and wounds the interior minister. Rebels claim responsibility for the blast. In this picture taken on June 13, 2000, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, right, his brother Maher, centre, and brother-in-law Major General Assef Shawkat, left, stand during the funeral of late president Hafez al-Assad in Damascus, Syria. (AP Photo, File)